Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment pass by Gen. Leon LaPorte, United Nations Forces Commander, and Maj. Gen. John R. Wood, 2nd Infantry Division commander, during a farewell ceremony to the division's 2nd Brigade at Indianhead Field at Camp Casey, South Korea, on August 1, 2004.

2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division

Soldiers: Approximately 3,600

Home fort: South Korea

Deployed to: According to the Pentagon, the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division will deploy to Iraq for one year as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom 3.

Duties: The 2nd Infantry Division is the major U.S. ground combat unit in Korea. The 2nd Brigade is the Army's only light/heavy brigade, with two air assault battalions. Its primary mission is to deter war on the Korean Peninsula by maintaining a high state of combat readiness and vigilance.

The brigade's deployment to Iraq marks the first time any unit from the 2nd Infantry Division has deployed since the Korean War. About 37,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in South Korea since the Korean War armistice in 1953. Roughly 14,000 troops from the 2nd Infantry Division are spread along the border between North and South Korea. The move to tap its forces in South Korea is an historic one by the Pentagon, as the Korean Peninsula is the Cold War's last remaining flashpoint.